Tomorrow’s Static Topic: History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial
revolution, world wars.

General Studies – 1

Topic– Industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries,colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.

The question is in the context of a comparative analysis of Unification of Italy vs unification of Germany.

Key demands of the question:

The answer should provide for a close review of the role played by either of the leaders – Bismarck and Cavour as architects in the unification of their countries, special emphasis needs to be given on the concept of realpolitik; a political tactic characterized by the employment of practical, even when unethical and unprincipled, diplomatic and warring tactics to attain goals of national interest, such as unification.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction

Start with the significance of unification for both Germany and Italy.

Body

The body of the answer should narrate the comparison between the role of two leaders: Conte Camillo Cavour; was a minister president in Italy and was the architect and champion of the Italian unification. Otto Von Bismarck; was also a minister president during the unification of Germany and his policy of blood and iron won for Germany states, the independence and union of Germany.

Discuss the events in either cases in chronology and highlight the key differences.

Conclusion

Conclude with importance of their contribution as of even today.

Topic– Industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries,colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.

The question is about how Russian revolution influenced world war I and vice versa.

demand of the question:

The answer must explain in what way the Russian revolution is regarded as the turning point in the history of the biggest country in the world, how it predisposed World war I and in return how world war I influenced the revolution in Russia.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction

Brief upon the two events, provide for an analysis and historiography on the nature of The Russian Revolution; how it is a source-event for a lot of international policies that are in place till this day.

Body

Discuss the following in detail:

Narrate the backdrop of the American war of independence.

Provide for a view of different schools analyzing the interrelation of the two events – Soviet/Western Marxist, Liberal view, Revisionist View.

Narrate the events – starting from The Russian Tsars to the event of Bloody Sunday of 1905, World War I, the February Revolution in the early 1917 etc.

Conclusion

conclude with significance of these events in the history.

General Studies – 2

Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation./ Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

The recent National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise and the proposed decision to deport all immigrants have been at the core of the controversy along with the discussion to scrap Article 35. But the issue of deportation of all immigrants is hasn’t worked out successfully as a solution. The apex court in this context has slammed at the Assam government for failing to address the issue of illegal immigrants.

Key demand of the question:

The question expects us to express our understanding as to whether exclusion of all illegal immigrants from the NCR is working out to be a feasible solution or not. One has to form an opinion based on valid facts and arguments with examples to justify.

Directive word:

Critically analyze – When asked to analyze, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgement.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Introduce with a few lines on the illegal immigrants issue in India and more so specifically in Assam.

Body:

Discuss the following:

why deporting all immigrants from India is not a feasible and recommended solution?

Narrate upon the associated problems with the exercise to demarcate legal and illegal immigrants- like the problems of exclusion as seen in the Assam NRC exercise; some illegal immigrants would be difficult if not impossible to deport- Gorkhas and Lepchas from Nepal; India has no agreement with nearby governments for large-scale deportation etc.

Discuss the Socio-Economic and Political Consequence of such Illegal Migration.

What can be done? – suggest policy changes required in this direction.

Conclusion:

Conclude as – It is high time that India takes stringent measures

against the illegal migrants who have become a real threat to the security of the country.

General Studies – 3

Topic: . Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

The question is in the context of urgent reforms required in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the need for the Bank regulations to adapt to the new reality of rapid advances in digitisation, as financial systems are the core to an economy’s smooth functioning.

Key demand of the question:

The answer should discuss in detail what are the issues RBI is currently facing, how changing geopolitics affect the functioning of financial systems and thus the need of RBI to change its existing supervisory functions and policies.

Directive word

Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.

Structure of the answer

Introduction:

Briefly bring out the role of Reserve Bank of India and its significance in managing the economy of the country.

Body:

Discussion of the answer should cover:

Effect of geopolitics, international economic stability on Indian economy vis a vis role of RBI to manage the effect.

Effect of rapid digitization across the world and preparedness of RBI to manage the transformation or the great leap going forward.

What changes are required to be brought in ? what are the issues and concerns facing RBI.

Way forward.

Conclusion –

Conclude with what needs to be done, what path should Reserve bank of India take to empower the Indian economy in pace with the rapid digitization.

Topic: Agrarian crisis – Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints;

The Article talks about Kisan Swaraj – meaning freedom for farmers; mainly the freedom to sell any quantity of their produce to anybody, anywhere and at any time. In this context it becomes necessary to evaluate the policies and legal provisions available to the farmers in our country.

Key demand of the question

One has to detail about the measures that need to be taken in order to address the agrarian distress in the country. Discuss the specific issues; mainly with respect to market reforms in farming sector and role of the government in addressing it with a robust and powerful Kisan law.

Directive word

Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive, you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.

Structure of the answer

Introduction:

Explain briefly the statement, what it signifies and its importance.

Body:

The answer must cover the following aspects:

What are the critical issues associated with Agriculture; mainly the market related issues that are aggravating farmer distress.

Then move on to discuss the reforms already carried out for Agri sector such as with respect to MSP, crop insurance, irrigation, e-NAM etc and discuss how impactful they have been in terms of alleviating issues faced by the sector.

Then discuss the need for Farmer law, why and how it can bridge the gaps in policies and give the farmers freedom to exercise .

Conclusion:

Conclude with need to relook at the current available policies and how a unniform farmer friendly law giving her freedom can be a game changer.

Groundwater is a critical resource whose comprehensive management is unconditionally essential. Various reports have pointed out the shocking drop in groundwater levels across the country. The issue compels us to inspect the causes behind this shortage and suggest steps to overcome the problems associated with the issue.

Key demand of the question:

The answer must discuss upon the following points –

Scenario of acute shortage of groundwater in the country with facts and statistics justifying it. Examine the various factors that have led to this crisis

What are the challenges involved in providing for a solution and what needs to be done.

Directive word:

Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Begin with the highlights of the above report, what it points to, and paint a picture of current conditions of ground water management in the country.

Body:

The answer should capture the following aspects:

The problem of groundwater shortage in India(the article discusses the management of river systems and their role in groundwater replenishment)

The article examines closely the recent study titled “Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates”, published in the journal PLOS Biology, that has reported human impacts on species occur across 84% of the earth’s surface. Thus analyzing the impact of human beings on biodiversity hotspots.

Key demand of the question:

The answer must provide for a detailed analysis of how with the growing and aspirational population, there is no doubt that there will be great pressure on forest areas in India and thus a no-go zone or a complete restriction on human activity, as suggested by the experts committee is an alarming yet a necessity step way forward.

of the current degradation of biodiversity hotspots in India mainly due to human impact.

Directive word:

Evaluate – When you are asked to evaluate, you have to pass a sound judgement about the truth of the given statement in the question or the topic based on evidences. You have to appraise the worth of the statement in question. There is scope for forming a personal opinion here.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Explain briefly the significance of Biodiversity hotspots, necessity of their conservation.

Body:

Discuss briefly the following aspects :

Human impact on biodiversity – exponential growth of population vs carrying capacity of Earth, impact on species richness and species diversity etc.

We are giving hints for each question. Please use your creativity and originality to come up with answers that are unique to you. But do so without deviating from core demand of each question. Ultimately you should use your reason and judgement to write your own answer.